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Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
Over the weekend of Saturday, February 22nd, and Sunday, February 23rd, the Soo U16 Greyhounds hosted two GNU18HL regular season games against the visiting Sudbury U18 Wolves in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The teams battled hard in both matchups, with Sudbury taking game one and the Greyhounds responding with a victory in game two.
In game one of the weekend, the Greyhounds opened the scoring at 8:21 of the first period when Finlay Escasa netted his seventh goal of the season, beating Wolves goaltender Declan McNamara unassisted to give the Soo a 1-0 lead.
Early in the third period, just 30 seconds in, Drake Taylor evened the score at 1-1 for Sudbury with his 16th goal of the season, assisted by Cameron Vekhala and Jameson Fabbro on the power play. Later in the period, Vekhala found the back of the net again, scoring his 14th of the season to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead, with assists coming from Fabbro and Denver Mulligan.
With the Soo netminder pulled for an extra attacker, Mulligan extended Sudbury’s lead to 3-1 at 18:19 of the third period, tallying his 25th goal of the season with help from Khade Metatawabin and Joshua Cholette-Hebert. Mulligan sealed the win with his second goal of the night, scoring on the power play with seven seconds remaining to secure a 4-1 victory for the Wolves. Fabbro and Mekhi Levesque assisted on Mulligan’s second of the contest.
Sunday’s game was a physical affair, with the Greyhounds bouncing back for a hard-fought victory. On a power play, Adam Pszeniczny opened the scoring for the Soo at 9:49 of the first period, netting his 24th goal of the season behind Sudbury goaltender Wesley Richer. Jacob Vincent and Frankie Reda assisted on the play.
Pszeniczny struck again at 11:31 of the second period, extending the Greyhounds’ lead to 2-0, this time with assists from Nathan Watts and Anthony Carbone. However, Sudbury responded late in the period, with Cameron Vekhala cutting the deficit to 2-1 with his 15th goal of the season at 18:34. He was set up by Fabbro and Mulligan.
The Greyhounds re-established a two-goal lead at 6:56 of the third period when Blake Edwards found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Wyatt Jarratt. Sudbury answered back at 8:05, as Drake Taylor notched his 17th goal of the season with a shorthanded marker assisted by Vekhala, bringing the Wolves within one.
However, with just 1:04 remaining in regulation, Kingston Kellar secured the Greyhounds’ 4-2 victory with his second goal of the season, scoring unassisted and shorthanded.
Looking ahead, the U16 Greyhounds are back in action on March 1st and 2nd when they host the Timmins Majors at the Rankin Arena. Puck drops are scheduled for 12:30 p.m on Saturday and 10:30 a.m on Sunday.
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